We received many questions about exactly what we were doing in Rio Dulce, Guatemala on a boat. Through a very serendipitous affair via friends in Austin, we were introduced to the trio at So Many Beaches – L, D & K (the dog). We were asked if we were interested in boatsitting and dogsitting for them in Guatemala and it didn’t take much for us to reply with a very excited YES. Rio Dulce was one of the very few places in Guate that we didn’t get to visit our last time around and I wasn’t going to turn down some time on a boat.
So what exactly is involved with a floating housesitting assignment?
First of all we taking care of K, the awesome boat-bound pit bull.
Most of our days were spent making sure to take him on walks around the marina, making sure he was fed, and taking care that he didn’t overheat in the very hot weather.
There was also the task of cleaning the bow, or what we called the literal “poop deck”.
All while K sat and looked at you cleaning up his mess, of course.
A little bit of scrubbing goes into it as well.
But overall, K was an incredibly easy dog to take care of. You can also tell that his parents are dog people.
Other than that we had normal housesitting duties: Washing dishes, cleaning stoves, cleaning windows, keeping tidy.
With a few extras that included: Making sure we didn’t run out of water, and charging the battery.
But most of all we did this:
or this:
or this:
Or when we got really bored we would fish off the dock (OH GOD DON’T EAT THE FISH, WE KID.).
…playing pirates and pretending to be driving the boat while it is attached to the dock.
…or sexily made sure the boats were still tied to the dock while attempting to learn knots.
We now have a few housesitting gigs under our belt and I can totally see us getting into the lifestyle. Not only do we have adoptive pets but how awesome is it that we were on a boat in Guatemala?!
*Mr. Burns fingers*
…now where to next?!
SO cool! We’re just now looking into the whole house sitting thing. But boat sitting-geez sign me up right now!
Okay, so I’m not gonna lie: my favorite part of this post was the “Mr. Burns fingers.” Awesome – love me some Simpsons humor!
I guess that the boat & dog sitting thing was pretty cool too! 😉
Mr. Burns voice “Excellent!”
Oh how fun!!! What a cute dog!
Cool gig you got yourself there. Have any other house sitting plans for 2013?
Awww, so fun to see what y’all (and Mr. K) got into while we were gone – Shaun looks like a natural boat driver – and you learned a clove hitch, girl! We can not thank you enough for allowing us the time away (especially given our recent drama). Y’all were awesome and K totally moped when we parted ways 🙁 Thanks again for everything!
Love your type of drama or at least the dramatic shots!
Kisses to the pooch and don’t forget to look for…
*whispers*… buried treasure. ;-“
Living the life in a small sailboat/yacht always intrigued me, mostly because I have a bad case of motion sickness on boats. I remember we took a 10 minute speedboat ride going to the marine park in Kota kinabalu, Malaysia and I almost produced fish food that day.
But this appeals to me, the ship life, without the constant swaying! 😀
This looks absolutely awesome. And I’m glad I’m not the only one that pretends to be a pirate whenever I’m on a boat.
1) You don’t need knots to tie a boat up. Don’t go and make it sound harder than it is. 😉
2) so WHEN are you going to starting making like us and boat-sitting boats that in transit? 😉
The Mr. Burns fingers just finished this post off. Totally.
On to the next!
I’m going to have that song in my head all day now… Poseidon, look at me! This does look like paradise. What exactly are you discovering in that book you’re reading?
HAHA! I’m not sure we will ever get the opportunity again but I’ll take it!
YAY! I’m glad it wasn’t lost on people. It is the best way to describe how I felt. 😛
<3
He was the sweetest thing ever.
Not at the moment. We’re heading back to Austin to work for a while before hitting the road.
We were so glad we could help you guys out! I mean, it IS one of my favorite parts of the world. <3 And poor Mr. K. We miss him too!
HAHA! I’m sure there is some all over. That part of Guatemala has some very serious pirate history.
Shaun can’t do sailboats but can handle catamarans much better. Have you tried that?
YES! Pirates UNITE!
1. HEY. WE WERE ADDING DRAMA TO THE BORINGNESS. <3
2. When Shaun feels like it. 🙂
/armpump
BWAHAHAHA!
…and I’ll tell you what I was reading the next time I see you. It is a secret. 😛 Or DM me. haha
😀
Catamaran, pump boat, sail boat, speedboat… All it takes is 15 and then I’ll be all silent. It took me 3 weeks to fully adjust on a cruise ship!
You officially have the most unusual house-sitting gig under your belt, my friends. A docked boat with a dog. Wow!
I wanna do this 🙂
I am so enticed by this house-sitting lifestyle! I definitely need to get into it, though I do think it might be a little lonely sometimes as a solo traveler :/
That has got to be the happiest, friendliest looking pitbull I have ever seen.
OH NO! That is some serious stuff. Have you tried ginger candy?
DAMN SKIPPY. It was an awesome sitting job. I think I found my calling in life?
I can imagine it would be! I do like hostels for that reason – on the go friends.
I’m used to seeing happy pitbulls. They all look like this in Austin!
Sign me up for taking care of a cute pup in a beautiful spot like this! What a great way to see another part of Guatemala.
Awww yeah! House-sitting is taking the world by storm. Looks like this boat-sit looked pretty sweet and that dog looks awesome! Good luck with sits going forward 🙂
It is great because this was the only part we hadn’t seen so we got to know it much more intimately. 😀
lol! All our housesits have been on our own rather than the website. 😛 It has been pretty awesome but to be honest, we don’t have time for housesits right now!
I am extremely interested in boat sitting. I live in the states and I have no idea how to go about starting to find someone interested in a boat sitter. Any help is greatly appreciated.
There are a few ways to go about it. One way would be to hang out near the docks and get to know people. When you have friends, they are more willing to share your information when people need warm bodies on their boats. It happens more than you think. 🙂